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Archive for January, 2016
United Kingdom: The Observer view on the floods and budget cutting
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 3rd, 2016
Guardian: Inundated; crumbling; overwhelmed: there could hardly have been a more graphic physical representation of the fragile state of Britain’s infrastructure than the floodwaters surging down the streets of our towns and cities and into shops and living rooms in the past few days.
And the government can’t say it wasn’t warned. Our story today reveals that experts had left ministers in no doubt that skimping on flood defence spending was exposing a growing number of households to risks.
In 2014, too,...
Posted in Water Conservation 
Comments Off on United Kingdom: The Observer view on the floods and budget cuttingImpacts of Deepwater Horizon oil spill on sea turtles
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 2nd, 2016
ScienceDaily: Researchers investigating the impacts of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill on sea turtles found that over 320,000 juvenile sea turtles from populations throughout the Atlantic Ocean were likely present in the northern Gulf of Mexico during the 87-day oil spill. The study, led by researchers at the University of Miami (UM) Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science, has important implications for international management and restoration efforts following oil spills. "There is a perception...
Buffer strips, water, carbon top Minnesota’s environmental agenda
Posted by LaCrosse Tribune: None Given on January 2nd, 2016
LaCrosse Tribune: Major decisions on copper-nickel mining, a water quality summit and a push to reduce carbon emissions by Minnesota's utilities will be among the top issues on Minnesota's environmental agenda for 2016. Some of the debate will be very public, while much of the work on issues such as oil pipelines and wild rice will take place behind the scenes, within state agencies that will be conducting environmental reviews and developing regulations. Here's a look ahead: Buffer strips Officials will be working...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on Buffer strips, water, carbon top Minnesota’s environmental agendaUnited Kingdom: Broken dreams, sodden homes and businesses – flood victims shortchanged by insurers
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 2nd, 2016
Guardian: They were still removing sodden drum kits and waterlogged guitar amps from York’s Melrose Yard Studios yesterday. A week earlier, floodwaters from the nearby river Foss had inundated the popular music studios with ruinous effect and left the North Yorkshire business among those feeling shortchanged by its insurers. A hitherto unnoticed clause in Melrose Yard’s insurance policy has left the firm ineligible for reimbursement, despite its owners calculating that it will need at least £20,000 to get...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on United Kingdom: Broken dreams, sodden homes and businesses – flood victims shortchanged by insurersUnited Kingdom: Homeowners count the cost as floods force prices to plummet
Posted by Guardian: Miles Brignall and Rupert Jones on January 2nd, 2016
Guardian: People trying to sell their properties in flood-hit parts of north-west England have begun dramatically dropping their prices amid fears that houses in some roads have become virtually unsellable. Large homes in and around the Warwick Road area of Carlisle, which in December 2015 experienced its second major flooding episode in a decade, have started to appear on the market for only 60% of their November values – leaving some people wondering whether they will ever be able to move house. After...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on United Kingdom: Homeowners count the cost as floods force prices to plummetRevealed: how Tory cuts wrecking UK flood defence
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 2nd, 2016
Guardian: Many of Britain’s flood defences are being abandoned or maintained to minimal levels because of government cuts that could leave almost twice as many households at “significant risk” within 20 years, according to a leaked document submitted to ministers. The paper, written by the body representing all major organisations responsible for flood defences, was presented to ministers on 30 November last year – days before Cumbria was hit by the heaviest rainfall recorded in 24 hours in Britain. It was...
California drought putting many trees at risk
Posted by Environmental News Network: Carnegie Institute For Science Via EurekAlert on January 2nd, 2016
Environmental News Network: California's forests are home to the planet's oldest, tallest and most-massive trees. New research from Carnegie's Greg Asner and his team reveals that up to 58 million large trees in California experienced severe canopy water loss between 2011 and today due to the state's historic drought. Their results are published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
In addition to the persistently low rainfall, high temperatures and outbreaks of the destructive bark beetle increased forest...
‘It’s going to get ugly’: Midwest calls in national guard as flood disaster unfolds
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 2nd, 2016
Guardian: Floods have submerged towns, roads, casinos and shopping malls around the south and midwest for more than three days, prompting governors in Illinois and Iowa to call in the national guard.
Sixteen states issued flood warnings covering some eight million people. By Saturday floodwaters had begun to subside in many areas, reopening several important highways, after topping levees in the region late on Friday.
But swollen rivers have yet to crest in southern states, alarming governors in Tennessee,...
Posted in Water Conservation Comments Off on ‘It’s going to get ugly’: Midwest calls in national guard as flood disaster unfoldsRacism Captured At A Fracking Protest
Posted by Inquisitr: None Given on January 2nd, 2016
Inquisitr: MMC Land Management employee John Pisone took it upon himself to confront anti-fracking protesters at the fracking site in Mars, Pennsylvania, where he was working. His dismay towards the protesters turned into flat-out racism as he hurled harsh words towards the black photo journalist, Tom Jefferson.
Jefferson captured all of the racist landscaper`s words on a video that has now gone viral during the fracking protest.
Pisone insulted all of the protesters in general. According to him, they`re...
Climate Change Warming World’s Lakes, Says Study
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on January 2nd, 2016
Reuters: A new study by NASA and the National Science Foundation reveals that climate change is rapidly warming lakes around the world, according to findings in Geophysical Research Letters.
The study, published last month, used temperature data taken via satellites and ground measurements from 235 lakes around the world and analyzed temperature changes over 25 years.
"What we wanted to do was see how lakes were changing over the entire globe and look at what variations there were in the warming rates...